(February) Deep Dive: Happylappy & Friends' 20p Classic
Feb 6, 2023 4:00:35 GMT
Lucas ◢ ◤, commanderawesome, and 1 more like this
Post by ForgotToFlush on Feb 6, 2023 4:00:35 GMT
Deep Dive: Happylappy & Friends' 20p Classic
Written by ForgotToFlush
Background Info
On February 25th, 2019, Happylappy decided to host a standard forum game, aiming for anywhere from 5 to 20 players. They were a notoriously eager roomhost but had never ventured onto the forums. They brought on Pokeniner and (future Room Owner!) Gimm1ck as co-hosts, in the hopes that they would all be able to garner more hosting experience. After the game concluded, Happylappy never hosted another forum game.
The game itself (linked here: X) attracted quite a bit of attention; the forums lacked activity at the time and the promise of a new game appealed to many users, both notable and new:
Playerlist
1. Forgot To Flush
2. Cantius
3. Schiavetto
4. C7
5. ChapterSeven
6. jodram22
7. Vigilante Vigoroth
8. Toni XY
9. ? (ScorrchingTheAph)
10. Tauon
11. Alexandar489
12. Jezebelle
13. EeveelutionArmy
14. Irokei
15. Cuddleszz
16. vooper
17. thimblebony
18. ZestOfLife
19. Fenrir
20. Motogp
However, even for a trio of hosts working together, the 20 player game proved to be a difficult undertaking and the inexperience quickly began to show. The game was mired with activity issues, communication problems, hosting errors and other sorts of general mishaps.
The game ended on the 20th of May, 2019 (nearly three months of runtime!) and the ending of it, much like the rest of the game, lives in infamy. After all these years, I think it's time to finally revisit it, if for no other reason, than to remind everyone of this incredible game ending quote:
I think Town would vote first
This game is also memorable me due to the many aforementioned hosting mishaps. With the Forum Hosting Guide partially complete, it felt appropriate to examine this one to see where mistakes were made, and how we can learn from them.
Setup
The hosts opted for a simple, low complexity game by hosting Classic, a PS! Mafia staple theme. Role-list is below, in case you are somehow unfamiliar:
20: 2 Mafia Goons, 1 Mafia Role Cop, 1 Mafia Pretty Lady, 1 Bulletproof Werewolf JOAT, 1 Cop, 2 Doctors, 1 Pretty Lady, 1 Jailkeeper, 1 One-Shot Vigilante, 9 Vanilla Townies
In any other game of Classic, I wouldn't feel the need to highlight this. However, there was an error with how the roles were distributed:
As dawn creeps up on the horizon, 1 Death has happened.
VigilanteVigoroth has been Elimenated! They were Jailkeeper!
I wasn’t JailkeeperSo, there was a minor host error. As mentioned pregame, we are not expert forum hosts, and we make mistakes. Anyway, VigilanteVigoroth was a doctor, however they were supposed to be a jailkeeper. We treated them as a "third doctor" for the first two nights, if you were curious. to clarify, there are still 2 doctors alive, and no jailkeeper alive. Apologies for this occurring, this is solely and entirely my fault.
This was a mostly harmless error, but I've included it in the breakdown because I found it funny. It was my first time seeing an error like this one, and to this day I cannot figure out how it happened.
Early game
The pregame stage and the early stages of the game were mired with communications issues stemming from the lack of coordination among the three hosts.
Hey Guys!
The Game of Forum Classic has officially begun!
You may now start talking in the chat and Night will be in about 2-3 days. We will most likely give you all a half-day warning of when day ends.
Good Luck to you all and may the Snaq be with you!
note for the future @hosts
you should probably mass ping the pl for important events (like the bloody game start)
There was no official start date announced prior, the playerlist was not notified of the game start, and the deadline for the day wasn't even properly announced. This trend would continue for the rest of Day 1, with the day being extended to last from the 6th of March until the 10th. Additionally, there were issues with tracking votes, but this can be partially attributed to the inconsistent voting methods used by the players.
Jesus Christ. happylappy you missed 4 out of 10 lynches in your 1st votecount, which means everything after that is already fucked. My advice is to maybe try reading the thread, which is honestly good advice for the majority of people here. For future games, it's also a good idea to require bolding votes.
Additionally, Day 1 ended at 11:00pm, but the person voted out didn't have their role posted until 7:30am.
I’m not exactly sure how to do the spoilers thing for role reveals, but here you go. Also please send actions to pokeniner, preferably in the way he requested, since Gimm1ck and I are NOT taking actions
Cantius, Welcome to Classic! You are a VT, which is pretty much as normal as it gets in this theme. Your power is the ability to vote, so use it wisely.
You are town aligned.
Despite early activity issues, Town was able to have productive discussions and create wagons. After Night 1, 2 Vanilla Townies and the Mafia Role Cop all died, creating a decent start for town, all things considered.
Midgame
Lulls in the midgame are commonplace on the PS! Forums. Activity sharply declines as game continues. Whether it be that the players view the game as already "solved to an extent", or that the decrease in player-list size has created an exponential drop in possible avenues for activity, this phenomenon is often observed. This game was no exception, with Day 2 ending with a zero poster Vanilla Townie being voted out while the players argued in circles, creating half as many pages as they did Day 1. The previously highlighted fake Jailkeeper was killed at night, leaving the wheels on the game to spin in place for Day 3.
However, the excitement picked up with a thunderdome between Chapter Seven and Schiavetto. This started simmering on Day 2, was left to stew overnight, and then boiled over to the new day. This, was completely overtaken by a different new thunderdome involving yours truly, where I overreacted to a read and got another Vanilla Townie voted out. Not my finest work.
Additionally, the inactivity and the hosting issues were still very pervasive:
Extending night by a bit. I need actions from a lot of people. Can you please send actions to me? I’ll forceidle by 10PM EST today.
It is worth noting that this was not a one off occurrence, as Night 4 lasted seven IRL days. For some reason.
Skipping ahead to Day 5, a phase removed from MYLO after the death of the Werewolf and halfway through the game, the players were clamoring for more substitutions. Activity was still suffering, with no meaningful progress being made. However, through a mass-claim, a Mafia Goon was voted out at the expense of losing the Role Cop during the night. It is worth noting that the Role Cop had been force idled twice and this created difficulty in verifying their claim. Chapter Seven was voted out soon after as the second Goon, leaving one Mafia alive in the face of 5 Towns, including 2 PRs. This advantage didn't last long however; a mis-vote lead into a 1vs3 where town just....did.....nothing....
Ok, it seems that the deadline was 2 hours ago... Nobody lynched, so nobody was lynched. Riveting! Send actions to Gimm1ck please, I don't want them
There were three posts total for that day.
LYLO
Finally, the end was in sight. Three players left, all claiming VT, and all active (in relative terms at least), and present.
Current Driver Cuddleszz was the first to strike:
no we don't but im lynching schiavetto because im pretty sure FTF scumread them and I don't see bgb being scum lynch schiavetto
A note on the above: FTF absolutely did not scumread Schiavetto. I cleared Schia after the thunderdome was resolved, as I could not conceive that they would be partnered with Chapter Seven after that. They also had a hand in getting Alexander489, the other Goon, voted out. In my mind Schia was absolutely not Mafia, and I implied as much before I was night-killed.
Cuddleszz subbed in for an AFK slot on Day 1, and did not post until Day 4. He barely posted and I do not know how he came to any of these conclusions. BGB subbed in for ZOL, who posted twice the whole game. BGB himself posted 4 times before this day. Schia had been active since the start and had a hand in getting two of the Mafia voted out. How Cuddleszz arrived at any of these conclusions, and was confident enough to SNAPVOTE based on them, is completely beyond me.
the only reason I lynched you so fast in lylo was because im following FTF pool of scumreads and townreads and the pool listed me and bgb as town which since if im town and he who hasn't lynched either of us yet means he is also town with you also crossing with me proves that you are scum from ftf scumpool
why are you tryharding so much xd also im legit just c/p ftf reads because im too lazy to do anything else ive been lazy this whole game haven't been on a single lynch and somehow made it too lylo without being nightkilled to be honest if I didn't make the first move on lynching in lylo you probably would have tried to make either me or bgb cross while saying im clear or something so I took the initiative to lynch you based on ftf reads
Things looked dismal as is, then went from bad to worse:
hi, ugh I dont really know but time is clicking. So im going to lynch schiavetto, because I think Town would lynch first
Disappointed but not surprised
But, I had never eaten my words this fast before:
This is finally over #free
Schiavetto was a mafia goon.
Town Wins!!
hi, ugh I dont really know but time is clicking. So im going to lynch schiavetto, because I think Town would lynch firstI'm actually sobbing
Kinda sad it ended on that note.
But it's finally over my goodness be happy about that
Thank god it's over.
NGL the game ending like that is just lmao
still a better ending than game of thrones
...this ended off of that
honestly sums up this game perfectly
hopefully the hosts realise the ptsd given due to this game could've been avoided but welp thank god it's over
who the fuck wonthis is it
This is the post that killed me
After throwing two partners under the bus and sneaking all the way to LYLO, dodging all the PRs and doing their best to stay out of the line of fire, Schia lost because....town would have voted first..
Takeaways
This game is iconic for many reasons, the agony felt by those playing it, the wacky host shenanigans, and of course, that ending. Despite some of the negative experiences created by the game in terms of activity issues and host errors, the ending was more than enough to send everybody home happy (except for Schia, maybe.) Despite being almost 4 years ago, the hosting mistakes in the game have informed many of the writing choices in the currently under construction definitive Forum Hosting Guide (X.) There's a lot to learn from, mostly in terms of what not to do, but I consider it valuable experience if anything. If you asked me now, would I go through it all again just to relive the feeling of seeing "Town would vote first" for the first time ever? Absolutely.
Written by ForgotToFlush
Background Info
On February 25th, 2019, Happylappy decided to host a standard forum game, aiming for anywhere from 5 to 20 players. They were a notoriously eager roomhost but had never ventured onto the forums. They brought on Pokeniner and (future Room Owner!) Gimm1ck as co-hosts, in the hopes that they would all be able to garner more hosting experience. After the game concluded, Happylappy never hosted another forum game.
The game itself (linked here: X) attracted quite a bit of attention; the forums lacked activity at the time and the promise of a new game appealed to many users, both notable and new:
Playerlist
1. Forgot To Flush
2. Cantius
3. Schiavetto
4. C7
5. ChapterSeven
6. jodram22
7. Vigilante Vigoroth
8. Toni XY
9. ? (ScorrchingTheAph)
10. Tauon
11. Alexandar489
12. Jezebelle
13. EeveelutionArmy
14. Irokei
15. Cuddleszz
16. vooper
17. thimblebony
18. ZestOfLife
19. Fenrir
20. Motogp
However, even for a trio of hosts working together, the 20 player game proved to be a difficult undertaking and the inexperience quickly began to show. The game was mired with activity issues, communication problems, hosting errors and other sorts of general mishaps.
The game ended on the 20th of May, 2019 (nearly three months of runtime!) and the ending of it, much like the rest of the game, lives in infamy. After all these years, I think it's time to finally revisit it, if for no other reason, than to remind everyone of this incredible game ending quote:
This game is also memorable me due to the many aforementioned hosting mishaps. With the Forum Hosting Guide partially complete, it felt appropriate to examine this one to see where mistakes were made, and how we can learn from them.
Setup
The hosts opted for a simple, low complexity game by hosting Classic, a PS! Mafia staple theme. Role-list is below, in case you are somehow unfamiliar:
20: 2 Mafia Goons, 1 Mafia Role Cop, 1 Mafia Pretty Lady, 1 Bulletproof Werewolf JOAT, 1 Cop, 2 Doctors, 1 Pretty Lady, 1 Jailkeeper, 1 One-Shot Vigilante, 9 Vanilla Townies
In any other game of Classic, I wouldn't feel the need to highlight this. However, there was an error with how the roles were distributed:
VigilanteVigoroth has been Elimenated! They were Jailkeeper!
This was a mostly harmless error, but I've included it in the breakdown because I found it funny. It was my first time seeing an error like this one, and to this day I cannot figure out how it happened.
Early game
The pregame stage and the early stages of the game were mired with communications issues stemming from the lack of coordination among the three hosts.
The Game of Forum Classic has officially begun!
You may now start talking in the chat and Night will be in about 2-3 days. We will most likely give you all a half-day warning of when day ends.
Good Luck to you all and may the Snaq be with you!
you should probably mass ping the pl for important events (like the bloody game start)
There was no official start date announced prior, the playerlist was not notified of the game start, and the deadline for the day wasn't even properly announced. This trend would continue for the rest of Day 1, with the day being extended to last from the 6th of March until the 10th. Additionally, there were issues with tracking votes, but this can be partially attributed to the inconsistent voting methods used by the players.
Additionally, Day 1 ended at 11:00pm, but the person voted out didn't have their role posted until 7:30am.
Dear Players! Day 1 of Forum Classic has ended!
Night 1 has begun and you are not allowed to talk in this chat until the next day! Also, I prefer you to dm me your actions on Discord but Mafia Forum DMs are ok as well! Sweet Dreams players!
Day 2 will begin at 7:00 am Pacific Standard Time on the 12th of March!
I’m not exactly sure how to do the spoilers thing for role reveals, but here you go. Also please send actions to pokeniner, preferably in the way he requested, since Gimm1ck and I are NOT taking actions
Cantius, Welcome to Classic! You are a VT, which is pretty much as normal as it gets in this theme. Your power is the ability to vote, so use it wisely.
You are town aligned.
Despite early activity issues, Town was able to have productive discussions and create wagons. After Night 1, 2 Vanilla Townies and the Mafia Role Cop all died, creating a decent start for town, all things considered.
Midgame
Lulls in the midgame are commonplace on the PS! Forums. Activity sharply declines as game continues. Whether it be that the players view the game as already "solved to an extent", or that the decrease in player-list size has created an exponential drop in possible avenues for activity, this phenomenon is often observed. This game was no exception, with Day 2 ending with a zero poster Vanilla Townie being voted out while the players argued in circles, creating half as many pages as they did Day 1. The previously highlighted fake Jailkeeper was killed at night, leaving the wheels on the game to spin in place for Day 3.
However, the excitement picked up with a thunderdome between Chapter Seven and Schiavetto. This started simmering on Day 2, was left to stew overnight, and then boiled over to the new day. This, was completely overtaken by a different new thunderdome involving yours truly, where I overreacted to a read and got another Vanilla Townie voted out. Not my finest work.
Additionally, the inactivity and the hosting issues were still very pervasive:
vooper ZestOfLife Fenrir ForgotToFlush @? chapterseven cuddleszz Schiavetto ♫ ♪ ♫ ♪ Alexander489 C7 irokei @eeveelution army tauon @toni xy Day 4 has officially started!
You may now talk to your people for the next few days, and the deadline will be March 30, 12 am EST
Good Luck to you all!
Mar 27, 2019 16:23:36 GMT C7 said:
Sorry WHO THE FUCK DIEDIt is worth noting that this was not a one off occurrence, as Night 4 lasted seven IRL days. For some reason.
Skipping ahead to Day 5, a phase removed from MYLO after the death of the Werewolf and halfway through the game, the players were clamoring for more substitutions. Activity was still suffering, with no meaningful progress being made. However, through a mass-claim, a Mafia Goon was voted out at the expense of losing the Role Cop during the night. It is worth noting that the Role Cop had been force idled twice and this created difficulty in verifying their claim. Chapter Seven was voted out soon after as the second Goon, leaving one Mafia alive in the face of 5 Towns, including 2 PRs. This advantage didn't last long however; a mis-vote lead into a 1vs3 where town just....did.....nothing....
There were three posts total for that day.
LYLO
Finally, the end was in sight. Three players left, all claiming VT, and all active (in relative terms at least), and present.
Current Driver Cuddleszz was the first to strike:
A note on the above: FTF absolutely did not scumread Schiavetto. I cleared Schia after the thunderdome was resolved, as I could not conceive that they would be partnered with Chapter Seven after that. They also had a hand in getting Alexander489, the other Goon, voted out. In my mind Schia was absolutely not Mafia, and I implied as much before I was night-killed.
Cuddleszz subbed in for an AFK slot on Day 1, and did not post until Day 4. He barely posted and I do not know how he came to any of these conclusions. BGB subbed in for ZOL, who posted twice the whole game. BGB himself posted 4 times before this day. Schia had been active since the start and had a hand in getting two of the Mafia voted out. How Cuddleszz arrived at any of these conclusions, and was confident enough to SNAPVOTE based on them, is completely beyond me.
Things looked dismal as is, then went from bad to worse:
But, I had never eaten my words this fast before:
Schiavetto was a mafia goon.
Town Wins!!
But it's finally over my goodness be happy about that
honestly sums up this game perfectly
hopefully the hosts realise the ptsd given due to this game could've been avoided but welp thank god it's over
This is the post that killed me
After throwing two partners under the bus and sneaking all the way to LYLO, dodging all the PRs and doing their best to stay out of the line of fire, Schia lost because....town would have voted first..
Takeaways
This game is iconic for many reasons, the agony felt by those playing it, the wacky host shenanigans, and of course, that ending. Despite some of the negative experiences created by the game in terms of activity issues and host errors, the ending was more than enough to send everybody home happy (except for Schia, maybe.) Despite being almost 4 years ago, the hosting mistakes in the game have informed many of the writing choices in the currently under construction definitive Forum Hosting Guide (X.) There's a lot to learn from, mostly in terms of what not to do, but I consider it valuable experience if anything. If you asked me now, would I go through it all again just to relive the feeling of seeing "Town would vote first" for the first time ever? Absolutely.